Concerns of excessive roofing material and roofing membrane penetrations pose a practical and economic burden on conventional means of securing solar photovoltaic panels (“pv panels” or “pv modules”) to buildings and other structures. Conventional mounting systems typically utilize roof-penetrating threaded fasteners to secure solar panels to roof-tops. The associated cost of those parts, along with the added cost of man-power and time required for installation, contributes significantly to the high-cost of photovoltaic systems.
The hardware-heavy conventional panel mounting systems are harmful to the existing roof structure and are expensive to purchase and install. Installers of the systems are required to climb onto roofs for extended periods—adding wear and tear to roofing materials. Moreover, installers of the conventional systems are required to repeatedly pierce/penetrate the roofing material at spaced intervals to secure rails retaining the panels. Once these holes are introduced into the roofs, there is a likelihood of eventual water damage to the roof and structure interior from rain water leaking into the holes.
In addition, many homeowners or business owners who may otherwise desire photovoltaic systems on their residential or commercial property rooftops are prohibited from doing so by virtue of the existing roofing material such as tiles, or the age of the roof that would require removal of the photovoltaic system within a few years in order to re-cover the roof with new material. Other homeowners, such as renters, may want to invest in a photovoltaic system but cannot do so given the damage such a system would do to the landlord's property combined with the expense and difficulty of removing the system and re-mounting it to a subsequent dwelling.
As a result, conventional photovoltaic mounting systems are expensive, difficult to install, damaging to the structure they are installed upon, difficult and expensive to remove/replace, environmentally unsound, unappealing and/or impossible to install given roof top materials and/or age of roof top materials. Photovoltaic systems are simply outside the reach of the vast majority of consumers. The high cost of photovoltaic systems is a well-known deterrent to the typical consumer—even those consumers highly desirous of adding photovoltaic systems to their homes or businesses to reduce their carbon emission footprint. As long as the cost of photovoltaic systems remains high relative to the cost of grid-supplied energy, consumers are unlikely to invest in a photovoltaic system regardless of their interest or desire for alternative, grid-free energy sources.
Accordingly, there is an as of yet unmet need in the art for a solar panel mounting system that: 1) requires a minimum of parts, materials and hardware to retain the pv panels in the desired position; 2) may be installed and removed in a minimum amount of time; 3) may be installed on any structure; 4) may be installed on any roof top material or design; 5) does not require permanent damage to roof materials through roof penetration of screws, bolts, and the like; and, 6) is cost effective, and not cost-prohibitive, relative to existing costs for grid-supplied energy.